Thursday, March 04, 2010

Don't Donate to Your Candidate Via Email

In this election season all of the candidates are scratching for money. You may get an email claiming to be from one of your chosen candidates asking you for a donation. Don't donate via that email. Wait at least a day and a half and go directly to your candidate's website and give directly.

The reason for this advice is that there are all kinds of political consultants out there who build up email lists and then "rent" them to candidates for a cut of the take. In these hard times when a mass email for donations will generate little response, the cut of the consultant is often greater than the amount that the candidate gets.

If a consultant rents his list of 10,000 grassroots activists that he has ripped off from every campaign he ever worked for over the years, he may charge a flat fee of $2,000 plus 10% of the take. If one percent of the list gives $50 (and that would be a very strong effort) that is $5,000 raised. The consultant gets $2,000 plus the 20% which is $1,000. Your candidate gets 2K of the money, and the consultant gets 3K.

Candidates are scrambling for money right now, and they are getting pitched by some super salesmen. I just want you, whoever you back, to have your will properly expressed in the donations you give. Go straight to the candidate's website and donate from there.

8 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Mark, I cannot believe you have become a traitor to your own kind. "The Professional Political Hack" You are giving all our secrets away on how we skim the cream off the top. Baby needs a new pair of shoes!